The Basics Episodes: 24Genre: Action, Shounen, SupernaturalAired: January 7, 2010 to June 24, 2010Directed by: Takahiro OmoriProducers: Brains Base, AniplexOpening Theme: Uragiri no Yuuyake by Theatre Brook / Complication by Rookiez is Punk'dClosing Theme: Trust Me by Yuya Matsushita / Butterfly by On/Off Review The Story: Can you say “gang wars”? When Durarara!! (←-that is a nightmare to type) opens up, Mikado Ryugamine is just arriving to start school in Tokyo after having lived his entire life in some tiny, middle of nowhere town. He's met by his old friend Kida Masaomi, who used to live in the same town. The first episode sets the stage for the series, as Mikado and Kida walk together through the streets of Ikebukuro and just about every major character is, at the very least, mentioned. The other thing Kida mentions to Mikado? The colour gangs. Basically, there are two main gangs in Ikebukuro: the Yellow Scarves, and the Dollars. No one knows what colour the Dollars are, and because they lack colour, they cannot be identified. The anime revolves around not only the conflict of these two groups (and the mystery of who leads each one) but also a third group, which I won't try to explain here. Of course, there are also the other aspects of the characters (their goals outside of being part of one of the groups) that all somehow wrap around into each other. It's pretty interesting, the way it's done. (Note: I do not feel I have at all done this section justice; it's hard for me to properly explain the story without spoilers.) The Characters: My very first problem with this series was regarding the characters, and yet the characters are also probably one of the greatest aspects of Durarara!!. The problem? They're all introduced very quickly, and at first it can be difficult to keep the names straight. There are only three “main” characters, but there are sixteen or so characters that I view as major players, and only one of them is not introduced within the first few episodes. However, once you come to terms with who is whom, it gets a lot easier to handle and you can see the beauty of it. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are characters who have ties to other characters that you would really never guess. Besides that, I also found that the character distinctions design-wise were very well-done. No one character resembles another too seriously and they stand out on their own, with personalities that are pretty well-explored. And a lot of the characters are pretty hilarious, which is always a benefit. (Now go figure, my personal favourite is also the biggest asshole in the series.) The Setting: Let's be honest—some things just would not work out if they were set other places. Try transplanting Harry Potter into the United States and see how that works out for you. Durarara!! is another one of those things. The setting of Ikebukuro is very important to the series. It's a complicated area, filled to the brim with people, and that's part of what can make it so difficult for the colour gangs. Especially in regards to identification of the Dollars...how can you figure out who is part of the group when there are so many people, and they don't have a colour? A series like Durarara!! simply wouldn't have worked out if placed in Mikado's little nowhere town. Conclusion?: This is a series where, if you're anything like me, you'll have to give it a bit before you really get into it. Honestly, it took me nine episodes. Nine of episodes of sitting and complaining about having to be introduced to a million characters all within two minutes of each other (yes, that was me exaggerating), laughing occasionally, and then growling about how all of the episodes seemed pretty disjointed (not an exaggeration...it was all really disjointed at first). Then I hit episode nine—the almost end of it—and there ended up being a moment (no spoilers from me!) that 1) made me swear at a character and 2) let it all come together and I realised the series had won, that it had me in its clutches. It's definitely well-worth watching. My rating: 8/10. So why won't I give this one a 10? While the animation and characters and storyline were all pretty brilliant, it loses points from me for taking until the end of episode nine to draw me in, and uh...the ending was something I found a bit disappointing. Note: The reason Music became Setting this time around is because the third section is always going to be inconsistent. It will change based on which specific aspect of a series strikes me the most as awesome, really crappy, or just plain fascinating. So it might end up being Music frequently because of how much I pay attention to music, or it could end up being Setting often, or it could be another piece of a series entirely. It just depends. My next review will probably be a music one! In the very near future, too.
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